The article “The Portrayal of Women on Television”, in my opinion, has brought up some interesting points. The article talks about “sex role stereotyping”in reference to women versus men. Sex role stereotyping is defined in the article as women who are stay at home moms, or women who are the primary care giver to the children, and the role that family plays in their life. The article states that about 75% of men work, where only 50% of women do. I do not find this problematic because in most cases I think that this is true. I am not saying that women don’t have the same rights and all that shit, all i’m saying is that women are possibly still portrayed in this role because that is still dominant in today’s society. Yes, women are going into the work force in greater numbers and becoming equals to men everywhere, yet they are still viewed as the dominant care giver in the family. I think that is why television portrays many women in the “care giver” way; no matter how many women are going into the work place, there are still more women then men who stay at home to care for the house and the children.
Now this statementmay have slightly pissed some people off. I’m sorry… I do acknowledge that society has changed in a positive way toward women (yahooo!!!), but the fact still remains the same in the eyes of society (in my opinion): women are put into these roles on television because that is how they are still viewed in society today. Perhaps if something happened and men started to become the main sex to stay at home and clean the house and care for the children then this view would change. This is interesting also because is it a known fact that no matter what people do, males still get a higher pay check then females do for the same job… so I purpose this: if your family is struggling and you or your husband (or significant other…) have to work, would it not make more sense for him to go considering how chances are he will make more money then you???
Now I understand I may sound like an anti-feminist, but i’m really just viewing this article as it stands in my opinion. I don’t think that women should always be the ones to stay at home etc, etc… I’m all for equality. I do think however, which brings me back to my main point, that women are portrayed this way because that is what is still dominant.
Many television shows portray women as caregivers, yet many shows do cast women as equals. Friends for example had an even cast: 3 males and 3 females, Everybody Loves Raymond has a pretty equal cast of air time between males and females. Nonetheless in my opinion, in more shows then not, women are cast in roles that have them as the more sensitive, background characters.
Here is a clip from “Everybody Loves Raymond”:
Personally, I feel there is more pressure on woman today. They are expected to maintain families AND work, where as in the past their duties used to be limited only to the private sphere. I feel that television usually portrays women in their stereotypical house wives role because that is what we are expecting. At the same time though, I’d argue that there are shows out there that show women in the work force too. Take for example the ever famous Apprentice, in which BOTH women and men compete for a position at Donald Trumps company. Does this not demonstrate that women are starting to be shown in more public sphere roles? Perhaps they aren’t shown as much as men, but they are progressing towards greater recognition in a variety of domains and jobs. Also, perhaps women tend to go into jobs such as teaching that pays less than say business, in which men are usually more inclined to be in, but this doesn’t indicate fault with society. It only shows that men and women simply are different. There is no denying that.